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ALSO
IN THIS ISSUE In His Element College for Kids Parking 101 Go With the Flow Close Encounters Chancellor's Page Development News Factoids Newsmakers Accomplishments
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College
for Kids More than 25 years old, City College’s child development program began as a state-funded project with a handful of children. That single center-based program is now a bursting-at-the-seams two-building facility caring for more than 70 children, including infants and toddlers up to 5 years of age. The waiting list for children and parents grows each semester. Although they love their jobs, Lyon, Harris and Fontana agree it is frustrating and heartbreaking to turn away children and their families because of lack of facilities to serve both parents and children. “The only way for many of our students to obtain a better job or to even get a job is with a degree or certificate, but without child care services, most parents simply cannot attend school,” says Lyon. To have their children eligible for City’s Child Development Center (CDC) –– or any of the SDCCD’s child development programs/centers –– parents must be district students and participate with their children in structured CDC activities. The CDC program has evolved over the years and now collaborates with outside programs, especially HeadStart. Additionally, the instructional part of child development is incorporated with the center program, while always working to establish new techniques from innovative research and brain development. Yet, with an increasing demand and decreasing funds resulting from severe state budget cuts, the Child Develop-ment Center cannot grow any more without expanding facilities, adding staff positions, or receiving more funds for equipment and supplies. As the college’s enrollment balloons, the CDC would like to accommodate more working families trying to go to school. To achieve this goal, more money is needed to expand the hours of operation and increase staff. Space. Space. More space, please. Basic licensing requirements mandate 35 square feet per child of indoor space, but a more functional and child-centered amount of space is 50 square feet. Additional funds are needed to upgrade and make major repairs to a facility that has constant use, day and evening. More critical than space even is the staffing shortage. Currently, hourly workers staff the infant/toddler center. Permanent staff would provide important continuity for the program. If dreams were reality, City would have a new state-of-the-art facility to incorporate the instructional program on site with the children’s program, a true learning lab. Harris, Lyon and Fontana agree that without the enthusiastic dedication of the contract and adjunct faculty who devote an enormous amount of time and resources to the betterment of the program, the program could not continue to operate so well. “Both children and parents deserve the best chance possible to receive an education,” Lyon said. “Lack of space in child development programs should not be the reason a student does not graduate.”
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